Now that school is back in session, parents everywhere are juggling their own calendars along with their kid's calendars, competing for the wifi signal, figuring out who needs to be in what zoom room, trying to keep the dog from barking during key meetings, etc. I even had a client join me on a zoom call from inside their closet just to try to find a quiet spot where they could focus! The novelty of working from home is beginning to wear thin for many. Sound familiar?
Listening over the noise
When everything gets overwhelming, an important step you can take is to think about what’s actually important versus what’s just useless noise in your head. Many of us have a habit of trying to do everything ourselves so it’s important to Stop. Pause. Breathe. to give our brains time to realize that we have options, otherwise, we run the risk of just going through most days on autopilot and not being fully present.
Pause During Your Day
One of the common things I work on with clients is learning new ways to “slow down in order to speed up”. For example, try taking short pauses before stepping into meetings or conversations to consider what you hope to accomplish.
What do you want to do or say?
What do you want others to do?
How do you want to feel when you leave the meeting?
How do you want other participants to feel?
If you pause to set your intentions, you are far more likely to head in the right direction and have better results.
Creating an Intentional Pause & Check-In
An important step to help you pause is to stop and ask yourself a few questions on a regular basis.
Do I have too much on my plate?
What can I outsource?
What can I delegate?
What can I stop doing or renegotiate?
How do I want to choose to spend my time?
Do I want to spend my time working on my business or in my business?
Do I want to spend my time pursuing my top priorities or other less important tasks?
How much of my time do I want to spend working vs. spending time outside of work?
Regardless of what has happened up to this point, you have the power to determine where you go from here. Be intentional about how you spend your time.
Reframing Obstacles into Opportunities
While we all face obstacles, pushing through them is often the way to growth and opportunity! Based on my experience of coaching hundreds of people over the years, most of the obstacles that we think we have aren’t actually real - they are perceived - stories that we make up in our heads. With support from a coach, we can often reframe what’s getting in our way and then choose to take steps to push right through. Believing that YOU CAN is a huge factor in seeing opportunities.
What Can You Control?
There are many things that we can’t control that can be frustrating, unpredictable, and even upsetting. Rather than putting more energy into those things, why not shift our focus towards what we CAN do? Most, if not all, of us, can probably think of many things we CAN do to make ourselves or someone else happy...how about doing a few of those things this week instead of dwelling on what you can’t do?
How to Get Started
I encourage you to give yourself permission to slow down, tune in, and choose how you want to respond to all of the demands that you are faced with. This practice can be done in 1-2 minutes yet can save you a great deal of time and energy. Repeat as often as necessary throughout your day until it becomes a habit. More intention leads to a sense of more control, leaving you with more energy to invest in the things that matter to you the most!
Create Greater Impact,
Dianne
Meet Dianne: Dianne Falk, is a dynamic Executive and Health Coach who specializes in helping her clients succeed during times of significant change, uncertainty, and growth. Her clients appreciate her candid compassion and ability to be a catalyst to help them find their voice, manage stress, set and achieve goals with intentional habits, and overcome obstacles while managing emotions across their work and life. www.creategreaterimpact.com
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